Preferred Citation

History

The School of Social Work began very modestly as a set of courses in sociology and a social work training program administered in the School of Economics (later the Business School). It was eliminated from that school in 1921 and re-established in 1926 as part of the Department of Applied Social Sciences. The School of Social Work grew out of the Department of Sociology's graduate level program in training social workers. It was called the Division of Social Work. Marion Hathaway was hired as an assistant professor of sociology in 1933 but taught classes in this graduate, professional training course in Social Work.

Chronology:

1926 – Manuel C. Elmer becomes head of the Pitt Department of Sociology

1931 – Division of Social Work first organized as a separate unit. The degree that students earned was Master of Arts in Social Work.

May, 1932 – Correspondence begins with the American Association of Schools of Professional Social Work (AASPSW). The secretary of the Association was Mary Burnett of the Department of Sociology at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

January 1933 – The Division of Social Work makes formal application for membership in the AASPSW. The president is Dr. M. J. Karpf.

February 1933 – AASPSW President Phelps writes raising questions about whether the University of Pittsburgh meets the requirements for membership. He raised 6 fundamental questions.

July 1933 – Dr. Marion Hathway joins the faculty of the Department of Sociology at Pitt as an assistant professor

July 19, 1933 – Pitt submits a revised application for membership to the AASPSW.

December 6 - 10, 1933 – Dr. Karpf makes a site visit to Pitt. He meets with Drs. Elmer and Hathway among others.

December 1933 – Dr. Karpf writes to the Family Society of Allegheny County regarding field work problems and the School responds to issues raised by Dr. Karpf

May 1934 – Pitt submits further documentation in support of its application for membership in the AASPSW. in June Marion Hathway responds further to questions raised by the AASPSW

July 1934 – Marion Hathway is appointed Assistant Director of the Division of Social Work and the AASPSW Committee reviewing Pitt’s application for membership decides to grant the School's admission to the Association.

October 17, 1934 – Marion Hathway further responds and outlines Pitt’s progress in meeting recommendations of the AASPSW

January, 1935 – Pitt’s reports to the AASPSW. the enrollment is 252 students (232 women and 29 men).

Scope and Content Notes

This collection documents in detail the development of the School of Social Work from its predecessor: the Division of Social Work in the Department of Sociology. Much of this details the process that led to the School's development and accreditation. There is also significant information on the research and training in social work in Pittsburgh during the 1920's through the 1940's.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Copyright

The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

Custodial History

This collection was discovered in March of 2012 in a passageway on the 21st floor of the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. The passageway was behind a sealed panel of a room that served as the Office of the Dean of the School of Social Work from its earliest days until 1992. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Edward Sites, Professor Emeritus of the School of Social Work, began the task of cleaning and organizing the collection. He deposited this collection in the University Archives in March of 2014 and provided much of the historical and biographical context of the description herein.

Acquisition Information

Deposited in the University Archives by Edward W. Sites, Professor Emeritus, on behalf of the School of Social Work Dean's Office, on March 6, 2014.

Previous Citation

Collection Inventory

Box

Folder

Abbot, Edith

1

1

Correspondence between Marion Hathway, Assistant Director Division of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh and Miss Edith Abbott, Dean of the Graduate School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago – April, 1933 - January, 1937

Contents:

Letters of reference; Negotiations for the publication in book form of Marion Hathway’s doctoral dissertation, “The Migratory Worker” by the University of Chicago Press; Recruitment for faculty and community agency vacancies in Pittsburgh; Discussion of arrangements for Dean Abbott to speak in Pittsburgh; Discussion of public welfare reform in Pennsylvania; Discussion of training of “emergency relief workers” by schools of social work; Mention of Pitt social work program extensions in Erie and New Castle in 1934

Includes Hathway’s 1933 letter of acceptance of appointment as Assistant Professor of Sociology in the College; Correspondence urging faculty to support the fund raising effort on behalf of the “Complete-the-Cathedral Campaign.”; Correspondence on behalf of Miss Pauline Redmond, the first Urban League Fellow “to take a degree in social work.”; Correspondence regarding subsequent appointments of Miss Hathway to the faculty; A letter to Chancellor John G. Bowman in October, 1937 regarding the forthcoming accreditation site visit by Mr. W. I. Newstetter of Case Western Reserve University on behalf of the American Association of Schools of Social Work of which Miss Hathway was the secretary and a member of the Association’s Executive Committee; Confidential memoranda detailing the agenda of faculty meetings of “the College”

Responses to inquiries regarding the Division of Social Work or study at Pitt; Invitations to speak and invitations to speakers; Brief exchange with Grace Abbott; Information on requirements for admission to study social work in about 10 other universities; Information on several national conferences; Responses to requests for referrals to fill social work positions; Miscellaneous correspondence on a variety of other subjects.

Correspondence from leading social agency executives responding to an invitation to serve on the Division of Social Work’s Advisory Board; Drafts of lists of prospective Board membership; Notes of discussion topics for meeting addenda; Draft list of membership of Committee on Policy; Reports of October, 1933 and March, 1934 meetings of the Advisory Committee; List of membership of Case Work Committee; Lists of Advisory Committee members; Invitations to and responses from persons invited to serve on Division of Social Work’s Advisory Committee; November 1936 Summary of Agency Conference on Field Work Minor.

List of Advisory Committee on Medical Social Work members; Program from the Dedication of Falk Clinic, September 28, 1931; Handwritten notes from a speech apparently given in connection with the dedication of Falk Clinic; Invitations to and responses from agency personnel in the community inviting them to serve on the Medical Social Work Advisory Committee.

List of Allegheny County Board of Assistance offices and personnel; Copy of study completed by Belle B. Glosser titled “Applications for Old Age Assistance from Residents of Public Institutions in Allegheny County”

Minutes and notes of meetings among state, county and university representatives regarding training of emergency relief workers in Allegheny County; Lists of students placed for training in various ACERB offices; Related correspondence; Marion Hathway’s syllabus for course “The State and Social Welfare”

American Association of Schools of Social Work Course Outlines, 1932-1936

14

American Association of Schools of Social Work Minimum Curriculum adopted at the December 1932 Meeting of the AASSW; American Association of Schools of Social Work News Letter, January 1, 1936. Sophonisba P. Breckinridge appears to have been the editor.

Syllabi for: Psychiatry in Social Work, Social Work and the Law, Basic Case Work, Public Welfare Administration, Social Statistics, Medical Courses for Social Workers, Labor Problems, Community Organization, Child Welfare, Field Work, Basic Course in Psychiatry, Field Instruction in Group Work.

American Association of Schools of Social Work, Correspondence, January 1935-April 1938

15

General correspondence with such persons as Mildred Mudgett, Sophonisba Breckinridge and Marion Hathway; Program from Annual Meeting of the American Association of Schools of Social Work at the YWCA in New Orleans January 27-29, 1938. This was the meeting at which Pitt’s application for membership in the Association (the term for accreditation) was acted upon. Sophonisba Breckenridge was the Association’s president and Marion Hathway was its secretary.

Memorandum from Karl de Schweinitz; Multiple copies of a reprint promoting the American Association of Social Workers; Marion Hathway’s correspondence and telegrams regarding AASW business nationally and in Pennsylvania; Correspondence regarding civil service coverage of social workers in Pennsylvania; Proposed requirements for admission of group workers to membership in the American Association of Social Workers; Organizational matters of the American Association of Social Workers; Extensive correspondence on requirements for membership in the American Association of Social Workers; Correspondence regarding standards for acceptance under AASW’s membership requirements of courses in schools of social work.

American Association of Social Workers, Pittsburgh Chapter, January 1934-February 1938

19

Minutes of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Pennsylvania Division of the American Association of Social workers; Membership lists of the Pittsburgh Chapter, PA Div., AASW; Reports of the Committee on Public and Private Relief; Fiscal data on City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, June 1936-January 1937

22

Minutes and correspondence regarding the establishment of a “merit system” or civil service system in Pennsylvania; Data on number of employees in various departments of PA state government; Number of employees in all of PA government 1919–1933.

Correspondence including a January 1936 request by Dr. Hathway for 25 copies of the Social Security Act and the response from the APWA that their supply had been exhausted; Conference programs; APWA agency membership list.

Correspondence regarding appearance of former Governor of Minnesota, A. O. Eberhart; Correspondence regarding students placed in Federal Emergency Relief Administration settings; Correspondence with Washington University Clinics and Allied Hospital Director Edith M. Baker regarding research at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh; Letter from PA DPW regarding Cambria County’s decision not to employ trained social workers based upon a study that purported to show that “children had been unwisely placed and the report is an exposé of bad results from foster home care.”; Correspondence with the president of West Virginia University regarding social work extension courses in Wheeling, West Virginia; Correspondence with the president of West Virginia University regarding candidates for faculty positions as West Virginia University attempted to create a social work program.

Correspondence with Wilbur I. Newstetter regarding Division of Social Work budget; Information regarding compensation for instructors in the Division of Social Work; A list of the 1937-1938 Division of Social Work faculty and their salaries.

Mary C. Burnett was the Director of Training for the Pennsylvania State Emergency Relief Board. This file contains correspondence regarding the establishment of a “merit system” in PA, enrollment of students in the social work program at Pitt and the 1937-1938 Annual Report (of the inaugural year) on enrollment in the Department of Social Work at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Letters of reference; Correspondence regarding conference planning and speaking engagements; Correspondence regarding a meeting in Pittsburgh of the American Birth Control League, Inc.; Several child welfare items including a June 24, 1937 letter from Mary Irene Atkinson, Director, Child Welfare Division, Children's Bureau, US Department of Labor, writes to Pitt to say "…we have approved plans which included provision for educational leaves. In most instances leaves have been given only to persons who had had at least one quarter or (sic) professional training previously and who had also had some experience as a paid worker on a social work staff. The experience of the past year and a half leads us to the conclusion that this as been a sound procedure."

Extensive correspondence largely between the new executive director of Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh (Miss M. Luella Sauer) and Marion Hathway, Manuel Elmer and Harold A. Phelps regarding field work placements, physical examinations of prospective students, students enrolled at Pitt from Catholic Charities, and a problem meeting American Association of Social Workers standards for approving Catholic Charities as a field site.

January 7, 1935 correspondence congratulates the University of Pittsburgh on its Division of Social Work being approved for full membership in the American Association of Schools of Social Work. This would have been tantamount to receiving accreditation.

The Basis of a Program of Catholic Family Social Work by Mary Luella Sauer Notes of interview of M. Luella Sauer by Ruth B. Camblon and correspondence regarding students

Largely correspondence between Marin Hathway and Susan M. Boyd, Executive Secretary (and Case Work Supervisor) of the Children’s Service Bureau; Correspondence concerns student “field work placements,”; "Confidential” correspondence regarding the implementation of the “Aid to Dependent Children” provisions of the new Social Security Act

Brochure from institute held December 4 and 5, 1934 in collaboration with the Federation of Social Agencies entitled “Child Behavior and Foster Care”; Announcement of Child Welfare Institute on May1, 1936 entitled Programs for Child Caring Institutions”; Announcement of Child Welfare Conference on June 23, 1936 entitled “The Child, His food and Good Nutrition”

Case face sheet; Topics to be covered in supervision visits to children; Information desired in foster home investigation; Memorandum to visitors; New case investigation; Information to provident clinic; Other related information and forms.

Listing with descriptions of four courses Dr. Chorynak was scheduled to teach in the 1937-1938 academic year; Correspondence with and about Dr. Chorynak, a psychiatrist with the Juvenile Court of Allegheny County. One letter concerns Hathway’s attempt to locate a study Chorynak cited in one of his classes that he said showed “the destructive affects of social case workers in certain instances.”

Correspondence regarding “The Citizens’ Committee for the Social Study of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.” It appears that Gordon Hamilton may have had a part in the “study.”

Progress reports by the Division of Social Work on implementing the recommendations resulting from the “study.” One of these recommendations was “That at the University of Pittsburgh, the Division of Social Work should become a Department of Social Work co-equal with the other departments; with a full-time director who might however participate if desired in the instruction in other departments in the same way as the teaching force of other departments now is utilized in the Division of Social Work.”

About a dozen newspaper clippings from 1937 and 1938 including an announcement of the arrival of “Wilbert (sic.) I. Newstetter” as Dean in September, 1938; the announcement by the University or the creation of the “School of Social Work” as the University’s “18th separate school;” and the announcement of the resignation of Dr. Marion Hathway, associate professor of social work “to accept the executive secretaryship of the Association of Schools of Social Work.”

Report of the Committee Appointed by the Federation of Social Agencies on the Application of the Coleman Home for Membership in the Community Fund, Dr. Marion Hathway, Chair and Dr. Hathway.s correspondence and minutes.

Materials relating to the Committee on Training of the Federation of Social Agencies; Dr. Herbert L. Spencer (President of the Pennsylvania College for Women, now Chatham University) chaired the committee and Isabel P. Kennedy (the Executive Secretary of the Federation of Social Agencies of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County) was the secretary of the committee; Correspondence from M. C. Elmer.

Excerpt from the By-Laws of the Community Fund; Material regarding the application of the Coleman Home for membership in the Community Fund; Financial statement of The Community Fund in February, 1938; Minutes of Community Fund Board of Directors meetings; Correspondence with Dr. Marion Hathway

Newspaper clipping (undated and without identification of the newspaper) reporting that “Four city welfare department employees are going to school on city time…” “All are social workers.” One is to attend Duquesne University and three are to attend the University of Pittsburgh; Organizational chart of Social Service Department of “Pittsburgh DPW”; “Notes on former students”

Arthur Dunham was Secretary for Family Welfare and Relief Division of the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania. Mr. Dunham also appears to have had affiliations with the New York School of Social Work, the University of Michigan and the Russell Sage Foundation. Included here is the following: “Getting Things Done” by Arthur Dunham reprinted from The Survey, April 15, 1928; “Shoes – and Ships – and Sealing Wax-“ by Arthur Dunham reprinted from The Survey Mid-Monthly, April, 1931; Reprint The Social Worker and the Scissors; 4. Reprint Fourteen Points for Dictators; Extensive correspondence covering a course in “Problems in Social Welfare Administration,” the accreditation of the social work program at the University of Pittsburgh, the training of public employees for the state, the publication of Pennsylvania Social Work, the Federation of Agencies, the Pennsylvania Conference on Social Work, the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania, and pending legislation concerning public welfare in Pennsylvania; A March 17, 1938 letter from Dr. Hathway to Dunham in which she informs him that without his permission, she is suggesting his name for the new post of Dean of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh

Correspondence regarding meetings, publications, classes, personnel references, the “Emergency Peace Campaign,” developments in other states, requests for information from members of Congress, etc.

In one major letter dated March 2, 1934, Dr. Hathway traces the history of the social work program at the University of Pittsburgh from 1918 to 1934. It contains the best and most authoritative summary known to exist.

A March 9, 1933 memorandum from Elmer to the “Members of the Division of Social Work” outlining the steps Elmer thought necessary for the development of the Division. It is far ranging and includes curriculum, research, library, fund raising, and a variety of policies; Correspondence covering Elmer’s efforts to obtain funding from the Buhl Foundation; Other miscellaneous correspondence regarding courses, instructors, salaries, tuition, etc. See also Folder 201, Teagarden.

Extensive correspondence with state agencies and universities in 21 states regarding the training of emergency relief workers, their salaries, and other details of emergency aid during the depression before the passage of the Social Security Act; There are letters from Frank Bruno at Washington University, Margaret Leal at the New York School of Social Work, Katherine Hardwick at Simmons, James Cutler at Western Reserve University and others.

Discussions of a number if issues including the report of the “Committee on Free Speech and Assemblage,” Article Hathway submitted in 1937 for inclusion in ”The Federator,” the newsletter of the Federation of Social Agencies. Courses in Psychiatry of Juvenile Delinquency, Psychology of Juvenile Delinquency, The Problem of Mental Disease, Child Psychiatry, Group Work, Local Public Welfare Administration and others are mentioned.

Correspondence from the New York School of Social Work regarding criteria for admission and list of questions asked of applicants; Correspondence with Sophonisba Breckinridge (University of Chicago), Virginia Robinson (Pennsylvania School of Social Work), Gordon Hamilton (New York School of Social Work); Announcement of 1937 summer training courses offered at Henry Street Settlement in New York City; Announcements of various fellowships and scholarships; Lists of fellowship and scholarship awardees.

Correspondence from Dr. Hathway regarding her doctoral dissertation (“The Migratory Worker and Family Life”) completed at the University of Chicago in 1933; Correspondence regarding students and lists of students; Several letters exchanged with the West Virginia Relief Administration which regarding students “assigned” to the University of Pittsburgh.

List of agencies being visited by faculty and students including Thorn Hill, Holy Family Orphanage, Mayview, Juvenile Detention Home, Juvenile Court Hearing, IKS; List of “points to be observed and covered” in field visits; Correspondence related to field trips including Polk State School; Lists of students assigned to various agencies for visits.

A Rating Scale for Social Workers from The Family, February, 1934;Evaluation forms from Fordham University, New York School of Social Work, Pennsylvania School of Social Work, Smith College School of Social Work, Western Reserve University, National Catholic School of Social Service, Simmons College School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, University of Southern California, University of Washington, Washington University, Atlanta School of Social Work, University of Chicago, University of Denver

One item is dated 1922. It is a report of a “Committee on the Supervision and Training of New Workers"; An undated document with the heading “Medical social field work should give the following particular experiences.”; A reprint of an article from July, 1934 in The News-Letter of the American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers entitled “A Training Program in a Family Case Work Agency.”; Extensive correspondence, memoranda and policy statements regarding field work, evaluation of field work, student placements and meeting minutes; Proposed Cooperative Plan between Mother’s Assistance Fund and Carnegie Institute of Technology; Correspondence with Pennsylvania Training School at Morganza regarding placement of students; List of persons who were employed temporarily for Old Age Assistance investigations; Correspondence regarding individual students; List of employment openings; Information regarding field work objectives and evaluations.

Information desired in foster home investigation; Visitor’s first investigation of foster home; Child guidance clinic outline for social history; Instructions for preparing and presenting papers before the class; Outline for writing up first interview taken from an article by Odencrenz, Louise in
The Social Worker

Various rating forms, guidelines and suggested experiences for field work students and possibly agency workers; One printed form is titled “ Report by District Superintendent of Social Case Worker at Time of Recommendation for Increase in Salary and Termination of Probation Period.”

Correspondence including with Bertha Reynolds at Smith College; Several reports on field work including “Personality Relationships in Supervision,” “Methods of Supervision,” “Correlation of Academic Work of the Students with Field Work Experience,” “Study of Student Case Records,” “Selection of Cases,” “Development of Case Recording As a Factor in Supervision,” and “Field Work Evaluation.”; List of about 37 field work supervisors for May, 1938; Suggested Field Work Objectives and Experiences for First and Second Year Students in a Family Agency.

Suggested Field Work Objectives and Experiences for First and Second Year Students in a Family Agency; Suggestions on Case-Work Training and Field Supervision; Suggested Program for Supervisor’s Conference for Semester February to June, 1935; Supervisors’ List for October, 1937; Brief letter to Bertha Reynolds. Committee correspondence, much of it with Ruth Camblon, Field Work Director; Meeting minutes; Survey of field supervisors. Sample forms.

Wide variety of correspondence including letters of reference, information about speaking engagements, theses, juvenile and adult corrections, admissions, and student aid; Material regarding the civil service status of Juvenile Court employees in other states and in Allegheny County; Information regarding a “Study of the Care of Dependent Children under the Supervision of the Juvenile Court of Allegheny County.”; Dr. Hathway’s membership in the “Unemployment Census Committee"; Other miscellaneous correspondence.

Correspondence regarding the presentation at the School o f Social Work of an Institute by Bertha Reynolds on “Supervision” in 1935; Information reading an Institute by Mary E. Hurlbutt of the New York School of Social Work on the topic “Community Program and Nationality Groups” in 1936; Information regarding an Institute by Charoltte Towle in 1936. Records of several institutes sponsored by the Pennsylvania Conference of Social Welfare in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Conference programs and attendance included. “Client’s Behavior and Worker’s Attitudes” was a session led by Ruth B. Camblon of the University of Pittsburgh social work faculty.

Correspondence with the Service Bureau for Foreign Speaking Peoples of the International Institute of the Young Womens Christian Association in Pittsburgh. (sic) Correspondence includes membership, social events and field placements. The school apparently placed students at the International Institute in at least 1936-1937 and 1937-1938.

Correspondence with Arlene Johnson in her role as Assistant Director of the State of Washington Emergency Relief Administration and later as Associate Director of the Graduate Division of Social Work at the University of Washington in Seattle; Correspondence regarding the “supervisory powers of the Bureau of Children.”; Correspondence in 1935 “concerning the organization of the New County Relief Boards.”; Correspondence with Counsel for the Special Senate Committee to Investigate Unemployment and Relief; Letters of reference, offers of employment, information of admissions and scholarships.

Memo concerning field work plans at Jewish Family Welfare Association; Student lists and evaluations Analysis of September, 1934 JFWA caseload; 1935 Annual Report of the Director of JFWA; Other miscellaneous correspondence and memoranda.

Jewish Family Welfare Association service statistics from 1930, 1932 and 1934; Survey of family situations of children in foster homes and institutions in Pittsburgh; Report of the Jewish Service Bureau Staff Committee on Relief; Newsletters of the Jewish Social Service Bureau; Information regarding students placed at the Jewish Family Welfare Association for field work in 1936-1937 and 1937-1938.

Arrangements for students to visit Juvenile Court; Job announcements and applications; “Recommendations for Selection and Qualifications of Personnel of the New Juvenile Court”; Correspondence with officials in California, Ohio, New York, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Maryland regarding juvenile court personnel practices; Report on training program at the Juvenile Court; Suggestions for a training program at the Juvenile Court; Other miscellaneous memoranda and correspondence

Numerous reports of student performance containing confidential case names (Kasserman was a field work supervisor); A handwritten paper entitled “Placement of Physically Handicapped Children in Foster Homes.” The paper has no date or author identification, but appears to be student work.

Correspondence regarding a “Poor Law Conference” in Pittsburgh; Correspondence regarding the need for the local Family Society to affiliate with the Family Welfare Association of America; Correspondence in 1933 with I. Albert Liveright, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, regarding implementation of the new Federal Emergency Relief Administration; Correspondence regarding the Infant Boarding Home Law; Correspondence regarding book orders, invitations to speak, students, a lecture series, and a request to do an investigation of an agency problem in New York City; Correspondence with Virginia Robinson, Assistant Director and Professor of Social Case Work at the Pennsylvania School of Social Work in Philadelphia; Other miscellaneous correspondence.

1937: Announcements, correspondence and minutes of a conference held in Harrisburg and attended by representatives of large agencies, schools of social work and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. The conference concerned the details surrounding the implementation of public assistance and other provisions of the new Social Security Act. One recommendation being debated was “the consolidation of all services in the local community, including Poor Boards, the administration of these services to be placed with a new assistance board, and the supervision and standardization of the work to be assigned to a new state department. … In recommending the abolition of the Poor Boards the report recommends the transfer to the county commissioners of the almshouse property now held by the boards, …”

Correspondence regarding admissions, reports, appointments to leadership positions, institutes, conferences, speeches, etc; Correspondence regarding the creation of the Falk Clinic as part of the University Medical School and its possible use for training medical social workers.

Correspondence regarding the National Urban League Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, student evaluations, letters of reference, Dorthea Dix, a study of a New York Program for Transient and Homeless people, several conferences, various local and state-wide Community Fund projects, and a 1937 letter acknowledging Dr. Hathway’s provision of a child Welfare syllabus to a faculty member at the College of William and Mary

Correspondence with Dr. LeRoy Meader, a Philadelphia physician who served as medical director of the Pennsylvania Mental Hygiene Committee. Meader presented several series of lectures in Pittsburgh under the sponsorship of the Division of Social Work funded by the Buhl Foundation; Lists of attendees at Meader’s lectures. (Apparently credit was awarded as there are grades and notes regarding incompletes); Newspaper clipping announcing one of the lecture series

Summary of the Regulations of the Graduate School, University of Pittsburgh, 1937; Requirements for Master of Arts in Social Work Degree; Schedules and questions for oral examinations; Guidelines for thesis preparation; Oral examination outcomes; Multiple copies of a memorandum to Master of Arts in Social Work students outlining the 8 requirements for the degree.

The file consists of correspondence regarding the publication of Dr. Hathway’s doctoral dissertation; Rejection letter from Yale University Press; Correspondence with University of North Carolina Press; Correspondence with the journal, The Family; Correspondence with a literary agent; Correspondence with Edith Abbott; Correspondence with University of Chicago Press, both pre and post publication; Original contract for publication of the dissertation by the University of Chicago press in which the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago agreed to pay the $587.30 cost of publication.

Correspondence with and about Margaret Miller who served during much of the period covered by the file as Executive Secretary of the Mothers’ Assistance Fund of Allegheny County, the Blind Pension and Old Age Assistance; A partial University of Pittsburgh academic transcript for Margaret Miller from 1931-32 and 1932-33.

Directory of trustees and executives of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Mothers’ Assistance, Pension or the Blind and Old Age Assistance Funds by county; Handbook for Administration of Old Age Assistance; What appears to be a student paper entitled “The Organization of the Job of Case Worker in the Mothers’ Assistance Fund.”; Application forms for various types of public assistance; List of “Persons employed temporarily for Old Age Assistance investigations …”; “Report to the Committee on Case Loads.”; “Old Age Recipients Living in Institutions for the Aged in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania”; Student field work schedules.

Correspondence concerning Dr. Hathway’s participation in an effort to raise funds I memory of J. Prentice Murphy for the benefit of his childrens’ education; A letter containing a two-paragraph quotation from the New york Times paying tribute to Mr. Murphy.

Blank Weekly Field Work Report Form; Correspondence with Mr. R. Clyde Murray who was apparently associated with the Munhall Neighborhood House and who taught a course in the Division of Social work entitled Principles of Group Work.

Correspondence concerning the typing of Marin Hathway’s doctoral dissertation; Correspondence with the chair of the Membership Committee of the American Association of Social Workers; Correspondence concerning Dr. Hathway’s interest in joining an organization called “New America.”

Letter dated February 5, 1938 from W. I. Newstetter (at Western Reserve University) to John Weber, Secretary of the University of Pittsburgh, indicating that Pitt had been accepted as a full member of the American Association of Schools of Social Work. Newstetter was the AASSW’s president at the time; A March 18, 1938 letter from Marion Hathway to Edith Abbott telling her that Hathway is resigning her Univeristy of Pittsburgh faculty position to become secretary (Executive Secretary) of the AASSW; Other correspondence among Hathway, Newstetter and Weber, much of it concerning the recruitment of a replacement of Hathway in her role as director of the Division of Social Work and the creation of a social work entity separate from Sociology; One item on the New School of Social Work in New York.

Correspondence with Newstetter regarding his authorship of a report on Group Work; personnel matters; preparations for a visit of Newstetter to the University of Pittsburgh; and the transition of the Division of Social Work in Sociology to independent School status within the University.

Minor correspondence regarding the Division of Social Work’s application for membership in the American Association of Schools of Social Work; Letters of reference; A list of social work courses offered during 1934-1035 at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Denver, Atlanta University, Fordham University, Smith College, the University of Chicago, Loyola University and others; A copy of the March 1936 membership list of the People’s Lobby; Program of the Regional Conference of Progressive Education Association, May 1936; Correspondence regarding student recruitment, admissions and fellowships; Correspondence regarding the arrangement of speakers; The people’s Congress for Democracy and Peace, November 1937; A report entitled “Old Age Recipients Living in Institutions for the Aged in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania”; Correspondence on various subjects with Dr. Kenneth L. M. Pry, Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania; April 1938 acceptance by Dr. Hathway of an invitation to serve as a member of the Special Advisory Committee on Training and Personnel of the United States Children’s Bureau; Other miscellaneous correspondence.

Section: Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania

Scope and Content Notes

Dr. Marion Hathway’s file from August, 1933 to March, 1938 concerning the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania. The Association had its headquarters in Philadelphia. Its Executive Director was George R. Bedinger with whom Dr. Hathway had extensive correspondence on a variety of public and confidential subjects.

Folder

Correspondence

166

August 1933 “Tentative Report of the Sub-Committee Appointed to Recommend the Program for the New Division of Family Welfare and Relief”; Extensive work on the Public Welfare Act of 1935 in Pennsylvania; Opposition to political patronage in the Pennsylvania Welfare Department under Governor Earle and promotion of a civil service or merit system; Minutes of meetings of the “PCA Committee on State Welfare Department”; List of the March, 1935 full and part-time faculty in the Division of Social work.

Folders

County Welfare Boards Plan, 1933-35

167-167a

Extensive correspondence, minutes, reports and correspondence in connection with the writing, passage and implementation of Pennsylvania’s Public Welfare legislation.

Folder

Adoption Study Committee September 1932-April 1935

168

Minutes from several area “sections” of the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania Committee on Adoptions; Includes information on the “Ten Year Program Committee on Adoptions” and “A Plan for the Study of Adoptions in Pennsylvania.

Minutes and meeting related materials from this committee of the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Mary Denman of Pittsburgh is mentioned. Mary T. Denman was a social welfare activist who earned her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh, taught in the School of Social Work, served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, was president of the Pennsylvania Conference on Social Welfare and a member of many ground breaking boards. She was known as a consumer advocate.

Folder

Committee on Penal Affairs, May 1934-May 1938

172

Legislative Program of the Committee on Penal Affairs of the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania for 1934; Correspondence, meeting announcements, agenda, minutes and reports.

Correspondence, agenda, reports, conference programs, minutes, etc. from a very active organization in which Dr. Hathway was deeply involved; Arthur Dunham, Leon Stern, and other well known figures were also active; One of the reports shows 426 persons in Allegheny County were PCSW members while there were 215 members from Philadelphia; Materials and program pertaining to the Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Conference on Social Work.

Extensive correspondence between Dr. Hathway and a variety of persons regarding a new journal (Pennsylvania Social Work) first published in July, 1934. Dr. Hathway was the Chair of the Editorial Committee which appears functionally to have been the editor; One key article was pulled from the first issue at the last minute because of the objections of Miss Sarah H. M. O’Hare, Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. The article concerned Veil Maternity Home, implicated in an active court case. Correspondence on this matter is included.

Policy statement on physical examinations of students to ensure that they are capable of entering the field. It contains the following statement: “Arrangements have been made to provide physical examinations for all students admitted to regular standing in the Division of Social Work. These are available without cost, through the University Health Service.”; Lists of students eligible for the physical examinations; Reports from the University Health Service to Dr. Hathway giving the nominal outcome of these examinations by student’s name.

Extensive correspondence concerning available field placements for social work students, some with remuneration, even room and board. Agencies as far away as Erie are mentioned; Some lists include names of agency directors; “Social Settlements” are specifically mentioned; Correspondence regarding employment opportunities.

Public Affairs Committee, Federation of Social Agencies of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, 1934-1938

181-182

Agenda, meeting announcements, annual reports and other materials from the work of the committee; A letter to the First Vice President of the YWCA of Pittsburgh commending the organization on allowing its facilities to be used “as a place of meeting for groups of young people intent upon discussing economic and social problems of the day” Attached are clippings reporting a “rally” held at the YWCA of the American Youth Congress, a group that apparently had communist leanings. One headline contains the words “Students Hear Red Doctrines Preached at Rally in Y.W.C.A.“; A list of the 129 members of the Public Affairs committee including such well know figures as Mary J. R. Condon, Edgar J. Kaufmann, and Wilbur I. Newstetter. Dr. Hathway was the committee’s chair; Confidential correspondence with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration;

Small file consisting largely of meeting announcements. A topic of major consideration was the campaign for merit (civil service) appointments of public employees in the human service sector

Public Affairs Committee, Federation of Social Agencies of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Materials, 1935-1936

183

Reports, positions on proposed legislation, positions papers, etc. related to emergency relief, aid for the blind, labor, mental health, immigration and other social legislation; Lists of persons dismissed and their replacements on state social agency boards and in the state Department of Welfare. e.g. (1) Laura Porter was dismissed from the Bureau of Community Work in the Division of Assistance. She was the Assistant Superintendent of the State Mother’s Assistance Office, had a graduate degree in social work from the New York School, 11 years experience with the American Red Cross and in hospitals. She was replaced by Ruth Zimmerman who had an undergraduate degree from a state normal school and who had volunteered as a secretary. (2) Florence Hall was a Wellesley graduate and had a graduate degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania. She had 14 years experience with the Children’s Aid Society and Children’s Hospital. She was replaced by Ruth O’Boyle who was 22 years old, had completed nurses training but had no work experience. (3) Helen Glenn Tyson, Chief of the Bureau of Community Work and former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Welfare. Tyson was a Vassar College graduate and had a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. She had been Head of the University of Pennsylvania Social Service Department, organizer and first head of the State Mother’s Assistance Fund, and Supervisor of Schools at Sleighton Farms. She was replaced by a Mrs. McCullough who had no professional training or experience whatsoever; Materials from the Special Session of the Pennsylvania Legislature for May, 1936; Course syllabus from the Second Semester 1935-1936 focused on the work of the Special Session of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1936 and taught by Dr. Hathway: “Relief and Welfare in the Special Session”

Letter from F. A. Retka, Superintendent of The Orphan Asylum of the Holy Family/Holy Family Institute regarding student visits to the facility. Collaboration with this agency goes back to at least December 1933; Names of persons attending regional conference on Welfare Legislation; Correspondence with Bertha Reynolds regarding the potential employment by the University of Pittsburgh of Ruth Camblon; Correspondence with students, schools, public relief agencies around the country, publishers and others; Correspondence regarding invitations to speak; Other miscellaneous correspondence.

Reading lists for various courses including a 1933-1934 Child Welfare course; Faculty represented include Marion Hathway, Arthur B. Thomas, Ruth B. Camblon, Clyde Murray, John Chornyak, LeRoy M.A. Maeder, and Verne Wright; Courses represented include Child Welfare, Seminar in Social Case Work, Principles of Group Work, History of Social Work, State and Social Welfare, Social Organization and others.

Correspondence between Dr. Hathway and the editors at the Russell Sage Foundation. The Foundation was also a publisher of the Social Work Year Book and the famous, 6 volume
Pittsburgh Survey; In one letter, the editor asks Dr. Hathway to prepare an article for the next edition of the Social Work Year Book on the subject “Education for Social Work.”

Students, classes and registration of students; Social agencies on various subjects; Publication of Dr. Hathway’s doctoral dissertation; League of Women Voters; Sccreditation (referred to as membership); List of “State Emergency Relief Administrations” by state for 1934; List of Pennsylvania Emergency Relief Administrations; Original questionnaire forms from 1935 for the “Social Study of Pittsburgh”; Letters of reference; Pennsylvania officials regarding policies and personnel of the Department of Public Welfare.

Students and local and out of state social agencies regarding enrollment, scholarships, and programs; Speaking engagements; “The Social Workers’ Club,” including a brief history from 1909; Dr. Hathway’s involvement with labor union activities; Brashear Association and the Hazelwood Community Council; Efforts by schools of social work to refute public statements by Emma Guffey Miller attacking social work education, especially in Philadelphia. Miller was a well-known public figure, an ardent suffragist and promoter of an Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution, a supporter of the New Deal and a member of the Pennsylvania State Welfare Commission. Therefore, her otherwise liberal public positions made her a formidable critic. Dr. Hathway and others sought to neutralize her attacks.

In 1934 and 1935, a study was conducted in Pittsburgh by Gordon Hamilton of the New York School of Social Work. The study appears to have been directed by Philip Klein. Professor Hamilton’s report is 32 single spaced pages in length. In her introduction, Professor Hamilton describes the study in this way: “The following report on professional training in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County has been oriented chiefly to the relation between the program of professional education as now provided by Margaret Morrison Carnegie College, Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Pittsburgh and the needs of the social agencies in Pittsburgh and Allegheny College (sic) for trained personnel”; “Social Study of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County: The Group Work Field” Release No. 7 – Financing of Agencies in the Group Work Field, June 1936; Discussion Summary of Comment by the Faculty of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Division of Social Work on “A Study of Training for Social Work”; A strongly worded, lengthy letter from the Executive Secretary of the Children’s Aid Society of Allegheny County taking exception to the report by Professor Hamilton

The Pennsylvania Conference of Charities and Correction, which later became the Conference on Social Welfare” and still later the Conference on Social Work. Dr. Hathway was active in this organization that originated in 1909.

Minutes, newspaper clippings, memoranda and correspondence from and about the Studen’s Organization in the Division of Social Work; A substantial report of a study done by the Students’ Organization entitled “Report on the Findings of the Committee on Field Work Facilities in the Public and Private Agencies of Pittsburgh.”

Government reports, pamphlets and brochures; Student enrollment; Faculty matters at other universities; Local social agency issues and relationships; The possibility of Charlotte Towle teaching at the University of Pittsburgh; Faculty recruitment; Various research studies.

Copy of report entitled “Housing Statistics for the City of Pittsburgh Released by the Bureau of Business Research of the University of Pittsburgh”; Correspondence regarding student placements at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement; Correspondence regarding the League of Social Justice and the Pittsburgh Civil Liberties Committee; Correspondence regarding the donation of materials on housing by Mr. Teller to the University; Other miscellaneous correspondence.

The file contains one 5-page memorandum entitled “Research and Thesis Projects in the Division of Social Work in the University of Pittsburgh.” It consists largely of a list of thesis topics in family dependency, child welfare, courts, medical social work, public relief, historical studies, community organization, professional standards, public welfare, and special groups and problems.

Travelers Aid and Transient Service, National Association of, April 1937- September 1938

205

Correspondence largely with staff and executives at the national level in the National Association for Travelers Aid and Transient Service; Correspondence concerns visits and guest speaking arrangements for both Dr. Hathway and Travelers Aid personnel.